The little lady has decided that she would like to have a dual purpose rifle that she can use as a hunting rifle(mostly), range rifle(not so much). Could any one tell me the pro's and con's of these two rifles.

Looking at the DSA hunting Fal and not to sure about the AR-10 rifle make/model. As this would be my first venture in these weapons platforms for the most part. I have several AR-15's but that is not really the same.

Calibers we are looking into are the .308 and the .243 she has shot both of these in a bolt gun but prefers a semi auto.

Again either me or my little brother would be around with my .338 or his .300 Win. mags. when ever she is in the woods. As we hunt in Southeast Alaska for Sitka Black Tail deer.

Thanks
gsdrulz

Wyoming

02-07-2010, 10:02

Your main reason is a hunting rifle than get a hunting rifle. I have three AR 10s and three FAL's. I live in Wyoming and never ever thought about using one as a hunting rifle. The 308 will do anything needed done in Wyoming. You live in Alaska so you will feel under gunned. I watched on TV where they were culling elephants and they used FAL's to kill them all BUT there was a guy with a very big Double rifle for back up. I have a Winchester Model 100 carbine that belonged to a very good freind that died too earliy in life before he had a chance to come out here and hunt. I used that 308 semi auto to take deer, antelope and elk, all one shot kills. That gun is a safe queen now.

So now that you know my background if I were to pick from the six it would be my Rock River LAR-8 16'' carbine that has Burris XTR 2-6x ballistic 7.62 reticle. It came out of the box 100% reliable and has a match trigger.

One thing that you might be tempted to do is use high performance factory ammo such as Light Magnuns and they wouldn't be suited for semi auto time/pressure cycle.

Flinter

02-07-2010, 11:55

I will second getting a hunting rifle if the main intent is hunting. There are a few hunting semis on the market, that would be far more cost efficient than any of the .308 military style rifles.

Another very accurate option in the battle rifle category is the M1A/M14, which also has 5 round mags available, but they are usually a little higher than the 2 you specified. I don't know about Alaska, but many states have a 5 round max capacity on hunting rifles.

Wyoming

02-07-2010, 12:45

My second choice would be my Springfield M1A SOCOM. The problem with M1A's (and FAL's also) is that they are not as easy to scope as a flat top AR's. You can change out the FAL's dust cover and bolt on scopes to the M1A's but you need to adjust for eye alignment with cheek pads.

The SOCOM has a forward rail that you could mount a low power scout scope that I have not tried yet. I did put a red dot but did not like it because I didn't gain anything over the factory nights in speed or accurracy.

jrs93accord

02-07-2010, 12:56

Of the two choices you named, I would go with the AR-10 platform.

smokin762

02-07-2010, 12:59

I understand what others are saying about getting a quality rifle for hunting. That is what the Sporting rifles are designed for. They will probably have tighter tolerances for better accuracy while a military designed firearm will most likely have a little loser tolerances for more reliability. I would think it would be difficult to have both.

Now, if you were looking for an excuse to buy a Black Rifle in .308/7.62 then that would make sense why you are looking into these types of rifles. Now you have to decide if you want a Piston Gun or a D.I. Gun.

I personally own a FAL type rifle and an AR10 type rifle. If I had to choose between the two rifles that would be very hard to do for me, that is why I own both rifles.

Both of my rifles are very accurate and to this date, I have never had any malfunctions with either rifles. I am able to put optics on both rifles for more precision shots and both rifles use the same magazines so that is a plus for me.

The AR10 is an old design but the FAL is older. One advantage the AR10 has over the FAL is the AR10ís controls are the same as an AR15 so it would be an easy transition of using both AR15 and AR10 rifles.:cool:

Vigilant

02-07-2010, 15:55

Might want to think about a PTR-91, with a claw mount for a scope. I have a Hensoldt Z24 for mine, and it serves me well. But even though it was built by PTR, it's still an HK clone, and I am concerned that HK might still think I suck, because I am not an operator, by their definition. So, I am thinking about dumping it for an M&P15.